The Centralia City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to petition the State of Washington to permanently relocate the Bob Oke Game Farm, operated by the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) due to its contribution to nitrate contamination in the city’s critical aquifer and private wells.
City councilors and other local elected officials have long called for action on the game farm following a March 24 meeting at Centralia High School, where the game farm was identified as a predominant source of the nitrate contamination. Frustration grew from elected officials and community members toward the WDFW’s responsibility in the contamination and lack of urgency in its mitigation efforts.
During the council’s Aug. 26 meeting, Centralia Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston proposed the formal adoption of a resolution to immediately close the game farm, stating that the city believes its mitigation efforts are “inadequate,” “too slow,” and that they are “not responsive to a dire public health issue.”
Instead, the language in the drafted letter to Gov. Bob Ferguson’s office calls for relocation of the game farm. Centralia City Manager Michael Thomas told The Chronicle after Tuesday’s meeting that the council believes calling for relocation rather than immediate closure is a better option for all parties involved.
As of Aug. 26, the WDFW’s mitigation efforts included planting more than 100 poplar trees on the northern edge of the farm, reducing the number of birds on the property by 40%, moving birds around the property more frequently, and cleaned its feeding and waste systems “to be less dirty and more efficient so there’s less waste,” according to Centralia City Manager Michael Thomas.
In the letter, signed by each member of the city council and Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation Chairman Dustin Klatush, demonstrates the city’s “extreme” concern that the game farm’s production of approximately 40,000 pheasants a year is contaminating the city’s aquifer, as well as land and water of significant value to the tribe.
The letter calls for two actions by the state. The first is to permanently relocate the game farm’s operations away from the aquifer, while the second is for the state to provide funding assistance so that the city can proactively install infrastructure upgrades to the Fords Prairie pump station.
“The City of Centralia is concerned enough that it invested resources in a comprehensive investigation into the origin and extent of identified nitrates contamination, including the installation and tracking of a network of monitoring wells, to identify the source of the contamination,” the letter reads. “The Bob Oke Game Farm produces a measurable amount of nitrates as waste from its operations. These nitrates leach into the ground and enter the aquifer, flowing downstream towards our main drinking water production wells at Fords Prairie. Unless the Bob Oke Game Farm is quickly relocated, its nitrates contamination threatens Centralia’s main water source. This risk is too great to afford the continued operation of the Bob Oke Game Farm in its current location.”
Signees of the letter said that if the pumping station is reached by historical or ongoing contamination, it could cripple the city’s ability to safely pump and distribute clean drinking water throughout the city. They cited the investigation that found that the nitrates may take up to two decades to naturally flush out of the aquifer.
Thomas said the resolution is non-binding upon WDFW and/or other state agencies, but its approval allows the city, county and WDFW to seek a new home for the game farm while also continuing mitigation efforts.
The Washington state Legislature approved $5 million for the City of Centralia’s nitrates project in May to improve drinking water safety. The city and Lewis County worked together to come up with a plan to hook up the affected homes to sewer systems, and the cost came out to around $5 million. The funding also supported management of the critical aquifer, according to Lewis County Public Health and Social Services. However, the city has said that the funding is only a temporary solution.
Before giving his thoughts on the matter, Councilor Norm Chapman pulled out his cup of water that reads, “WDFW Nitrate Well Water: WARNING.”
“This is huge when it comes to Centralia and Centralia’s drinking water. We don’t have any time to waste. This has to be fixed because as time keeps clicking on, then it's going to be decades and we can’t afford that,” he said. “Whatever we can do, without stepping over toes of legislators, to keep the pressure on so that it doesn’t drift off the front page.”
County weighs in on game farm
The Lewis County commissioners decided during a Wednesday meeting not to weigh in on the City of Centralia’s letter or make other public comments concerning the Bob Oke Game Farm located in the City of Centralia UGA.
Lewis County Manager Ryan Barrett broached the subject of the Bob Oke Game Farm during the Lewis County county manager wrap-up meeting Monday morning. Commissioner Sean Swope quickly engaged, saying he would prefer to let legislators for the state's 20th legislative district handle the problem, especially the two locally based legislators Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, and Rep. Peter Abbarno, R-Chehalis.
“I don't think we should weigh in on this,” Swope said. “Just talking with our legislators Braun and Abbarno that they are actively working with (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife) to come up with a plan by doing these kinds of things only bitters the water for them to try to figure out a plan moving forward.”
Thomas said Tuesday that the legislators are aware of the letter but have not “expressed any outright dismissal of our actions” and that they have been working independently from the city in the attempt to relocate the game farm.
The Lewis County commissioners met with WDFW officials in August to air their concerns with the Bob Oke Game Farm and frustrations with WDFW’s response. Swope and Brummer both voiced their feelings that the county has done enough to make its position clear.
Brummer emphasized that he would prefer to move forward at the negotiating table from this point forward as opposed to issuing public statements on the issue. Brummer added that the county is hoping to foster a strong relationship with WDFW citing other county projects that require cooperation with the state agency.
“I’m in agreement with Commissioner Swope that we’re always better to work cooperatively and try to gain progress without being divisive,” Brummer said. “We need WDFW support on other issues in our county not only important to that working relationship with our public works department and our roads and permitting, but as well as our project that we’re looking to do at Carlisle Lake in Onalaska.”
